English History of Language & Literature Outline

English History of Language

Invasions and Settlers

INDEX

l  ROMANS IN BRITAIN

l  ANGLOSAXONS

l  VIKINGS

l  NORMANS

ENGLISH HISTORY

Settlers in Britain

l  The Romans invaded Britain in AD43. After that, for 400 years southern Britain was part of the Roman world. The last Roman soldiers left Britain in AD 410 .

Anglo-Saxons 410–660                 (MAJOR LITERARY WORK : BEOWULF)

l  Then new people came in ships across the North Sea. Historians call them Anglo-Saxons. The new settlers were a mixture of people from north Germany, Denmark and northern Holland. Most were Saxons, Angles and Jutes. If we use the modern names for the countries they came from, the Saxons, Franks and Frisians were German-Dutch, the Angles were southern Danish, and Jutes were northern Danish.

The Vikings

l  The Viking Age is the period A.D. 793–1066 in European history.

l  It is the period of history when Scandinavian Norsemen explored Europe by its seas and rivers for trade, raids and conquest.

l  In England, the beginning of the Viking Age is dated to 8 June 793, when Vikings destroyed the abbey on Lindisfarne, a centre of learning on an island off the northeast coast of England in Northumberland. Monks were killed in the abbey, thrown into the sea to drown, or carried away as slaves along with the church treasures.

The Normans - Who were the Normans?

The Normans that invaded England in 1066 came from Normandy in Northern France.

However, they were originally Vikings from Scandinavia.

The Normans established many schools, monasteries, cathedrals and churches in both Italy and England and after conquering England built many castles to defend their new land.